Editing Humanzee (section)

== Reports of attempted hybridization ==
There have been no scientifically verified specimens of a human–chimpanzee hybrid, but there have been substantiated reports of unsuccessful attempts to create one in the Soviet Union in the 1920s, and various unsubstantiated reports on similar attempts during the second half of the 20th century.

[[Ilya Ivanov]] was the first person to attempt to create a human–chimpanzee hybrid by [[artificial insemination]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Rossiianov, Kirill |title=Beyond species: Il'ya Ivanov and his experiments on cross-breeding humans with anthropoid apes |journal=Science in Context |volume=15 |issue= 2|pages=277–316 |year=2002 |pmid=12467272 |doi=10.1017/S0269889702000455|s2cid=41098906 }}</ref> Ivanov outlined his idea as early as 1910 in a presentation to the World Congress of Zoologists in [[Graz]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Grant |first=John |date=2018 |title=Corrupted Science: Fraud, Ideology and Politics in Science |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EJNcDwAAQBAJ&dq=World+Congress+of+Zoologists+%22ape%22+hybrids&pg=PT454 |location=Tucson, AZ |publisher=See Sharp Press |chapter=8: Stalinist Russia |isbn=978-1947071001 }}</ref> In the 1920s, Ivanov carried out a series of experiments, culminating in inseminating three female chimpanzees with human sperm, but he failed to achieve a pregnancy. These initial experiments took place in [[French Guinea]]. (For comparison with known [[Cama (animal)|cama]] statistics, in the case of male [[camel]]–female [[guanaco]] cross the probability that insemination would lead to pregnancy was approximately 1/6.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Hybridizing Old and New World camelids: Camelus dromedarius x Lama guanicoe.|first1=J A|last1=Skidmore|first2=M|last2=Billah|first3=M|last3=Binns|first4=R V|last4=Short|first5=W R|last5=Allen|date=7 April 1999|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=266|issue=1420|pages=649–656|pmid=10331286|pmc=1689826|doi = 10.1098/rspb.1999.0685}}</ref>) In 1929, he attempted to organize a set of experiments involving nonhuman ape sperm and human volunteers, but was delayed by the death of his last [[orangutan]]. The next year, he fell under political criticism from the Soviet government and was sentenced to exile in the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]]; he worked there at the Kazakh Veterinary-Zootechnical Institute and died of a [[stroke]] two years later.<ref name="newscientist">{{cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19926701-000-blasts-from-the-past-the-soviet-ape-man-scandal/|work=New Scientist|date=20 August 2008|title=Blasts from the past: The Soviet ape-man scandal|last1=Pain|first1=Stephanie}}</ref>

In the 1970s, a performing chimpanzee named [[Oliver (chimpanzee)|Oliver]] was popularized as a possible "mutant" or even a human–chimpanzee hybrid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parascope.com/en/cryptozoo/missingLinks10.htm| title=10. Oliver the Mutant Chimp| access-date=2006-03-11 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051228045237/http://www.parascope.com/en/cryptozoo/missingLinks10.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2005-12-28}}</ref> Claims that Oliver had 47 chromosomes—midpoint between the normal 46 for humans and 48 for chimpanzees—were disproven after an examination of his genetic material at the [[University of Chicago]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite journal | journal = Science | author = Anonymous | year = 1996 | title = Mutant Chimp Gets Gene Check | doi = 10.1126/science.274.5288.727e | volume = 274 | issue = 5288 | pages = 727e–0| doi-access = free }}</ref> Oliver's cranial morphology, ear shape, freckles, and baldness fall within the range of variability exhibited by the common chimpanzee.<ref>Hill, WCO; in {{Cite book | last = Bourne | first = GH | year = 1969 | title = Anatomy, behavior, and diseases of chimpanzees (The Chimpanzee | volume = 1 | pages = 22–49 | publisher = S. Karger }}</ref>  Results of further studies with Oliver were published in the ''[[American Journal of Biological Anthropology|American Journal of Physical Anthropology]]''.<ref name=Ely>{{cite journal |vauthors=Ely JJ, Leland M, Martino M, Swett W, Moore CM |title=Technical note: chromosomal and mtDNA analysis of Oliver |journal=Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. |volume=105 |issue=3 |pages=395–403 |year=1998 |pmid=9545080 |doi=10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199803)105:3<395::AID-AJPA8>3.0.CO;2-Q}}</ref>

In the 1980s, there were reports of an experiment in human–chimpanzee crossbreeding conducted in [[China]] in 1967, and on the planned resumption of such experiments. In 1981, Ji Yongxiang, head of a hospital in [[Shenyang]], was reported as claiming to have been part of a 1967 experiment in Shenyang in which a chimpanzee female had been impregnated with human sperm. According to this account, the experiment was cut short by the [[Cultural Revolution]], with the responsible scientists sent off to farm labour and the three-months pregnant<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/377494293/|title = The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on February 12, 1981 · 3| date=12 February 1981 }}</ref> chimpanzee dying from neglect. According to Timothy McNulty of ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', the report was based on an article in the ''[[Wenhui Bao]]'' newspaper of [[Shanghai]]. Li Guong of the genetics research bureau at the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]] was cited as confirming both the existence of the experiment prior to the Cultural Revolution and the plans to resume testing.<ref>"Li Guong, of the genetics research bureau of the Academy of Science treats it seriously. 'My personal view is that it is possible [...] We also did experimental work on this before the Cultural Revolution, but we were stopped. At the moment, we plan to arrange further tests.'"
Timothy McNulty, "Chinese Aim To Implant Human Sperm In Chimps", ''St. Petersburg Independent'' 12 February 1981, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19810212&id=sbdaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rFgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6991,3347287&hl=en p. 19].
"Chinese May Resume Experiments to Create 'Near-Human' Ape", ''Houston Post'' (from ''Chicago Tribune''), 15 February 1981, p. 19, cited after Justin Leiber, ''Can Animals and Machines be Persons?: A Dialogue'', Hackett Publishing, 1985
[https://books.google.com/books?id=jTfsQ72qSckC&pg=PA71 p. 71].</ref>

In 2019, unconfirmed reports surfaced that a team of researchers led by [[Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte]] from the [[Salk Institute for Biological Studies]] in the U.S. successfully produced the first human-monkey [[Chimera (genetics)|chimera]]. Belmonte and others had previously produced pig and sheep embryos containing a small percentage of human cells. As with those embryos, the human-monkey chimeras were reportedly only allowed to develop for a few weeks. Although development was stopped prior to the formation of a nervous system or organs, avoiding more severe ethical concerns, the research was reportedly carried out in China to avoid legal issues. Due to the much larger evolutionary distance between humans and monkeys versus humans and chimpanzees, it is considered unlikely that true human-monkey hybrids could be brought to term. However, it is feasible that human-compatible organs for transplantation could be grown in these chimeras.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/03/first-human-monkey-chimera-raises-concern-among-scientists |title=First human-monkey chimera raises concern among scientists |last=Davis |first=Nicola |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077 |date=2019-08-03 |access-date=2019-09-14 }}</ref>